ICCSI ITALIAN COMPETENCE CENTRE FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION

Endorsed by the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the Italian Competence Centre for Social Innovation (ICCSI) was created at the initiative of the European Commission and forms part of the EU-wide network of national competence centres established under an action supported by the EaSI strand of the European Social Fund Plus (now ESF+).

Recognised by the Commission as the sole Italian member of that network, ICCSI was founded by Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino, the University of Bologna, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Euricse.

The partnership’s purpose is to build an inclusive, collaborative ecosystem that enables public- and private-sector actors to share expertise. The Centre serves as a bridge between public policy and innovative social practice. It promotes social innovation and a systemic, multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to the design of impact-oriented policies and services. ICCSI works to enhance administrative capacity, foster dialogue and strengthen complementarity between public and private stakeholders as they address complex social challenges.

ICCSI’s main objectives are to:

• Produce and disseminate knowledge and skills on social innovation and support their scaling among public and private actors

• Facilitate the development of strategic partnerships with other innovative organisations nationally and internationally

• Promote co-design processes, stakeholder engagement and cooperation to build impact-focused public–private partnerships

• Encourage cross-sector dialogue and coordination across levels of government and between public and private players, embedding social innovation in strategies and ensuring coherence across interventions

• Serve as a point of reference for the design of public policies and the creation of innovative services and solutions based on the principles of shared administration

• Build a bridge between Italy and other European competence centres, enabling the transfer of knowledge on social-innovation models and practices and integrating Italian experience within the wider European landscape and vice versa